Following its premiere, Mindy Kaling's coming-of-age comedy-drama Never Have I Ever became the most watched show on Netflix and was widely praised by critics when it first aired in 2020. The series revolves around Devi Vishwakumar played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, a 15-year-old Indian-American from Los Angeles.
Never Have I Ever was praised for shattering South Asian preconceptions and has been called a pivotal moment for South Asian representation in Hollywood. The coming-of-age comedy, which was partly inspired by Kaling's own experience growing up in the Boston area, was one of Netflix's top five American series for more than a week after its debut.
Keep reading below to find out more about the cast and character guide for the anticipated coming-of-age drama of the month.
Before we dive in, check out the trailer for Season 3 of Never Have I Ever.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Vishwakumar
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan will be reprising her role as Devi Vishwakumar; a confident, smart, and diligent young woman who frequently excels in her academic endeavors. Devi has an all-natural charm that draws in others, a knack for clever retorts, a fierce personality, and an unbreakable sense of commitment to those she cares about. Devi expresses compassion by never disparaging others, regardless of how other people may perceive them, as seen in her relationships with Paxton and Rebecca. But she still has a reputation for being highly competitive, as evidenced by her competitive nature that comes out in full force when her academic rivalry with Ben is involved. This establishes Devi as a flawed adolescent, despite her brilliance and extroverted personality, and makes her much more relatable. She also frequently takes actions that she, later on, regrets as her character matures over the series because she is struggling with conflicting feelings.
In season 3, Devi’s journey into adolescence continues as we see her coming to terms with her newly announced relationship with Paxton and the after-effects of it. Because of her climb on the social status ladder, she is getting some evil eyes and questioning glances about her and Paxton being a good match, which is enough to plant those pesky seeds of doubt. This gives us enough clues that our #Daxton journey won’t be a smooth ride as Devi herself begins to doubt the basis and legitimacy of her relationship. In addition to the usual high school stress, Devi also has to deal with problems at home while navigating a new romance.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is a Canadian actress who rose to popularity because of this very character. She beat out 15,000 applicants for the lead role of Devi, all without even a headshot. Ramakrishnan, who had previously only performed in theatrical productions, discovered Mindy's open call on social media and, with the support of her closest friend, sent in an audition film while she was getting ready to play the lead in her school's production of Chicago. After two Los Angeles auditions and her final casting in May, she hasn't looked back, just only starting on her road to success. Ramakrishnan did the voice role of Priya in the critically acclaimed Pixar film, Turning Red. She has also been honored with the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's honorary Radius Award for her contributions to dispelling preconceptions of Asians and South Asians in Hollywood, as well as her work as a Canadian.
Darren Barnet as Paxton Hall-Yoshida
Darren Barnet will be reprising his role as the popular stud at Sherman Oak High School, Paxton Hall-Yoshida. Paxton is easily captivated by Devi and subsequently displays his emotional side as the series builds. While Paxton is a popular kid, he is genuinely a nice guy, but may not be as academically gifted as his love interest. It takes him some time to get motivated, as numerous episodes of season 2 demonstrate. Paxton's grades may not be the greatest, but with some encouragement and reinforcement, coming from Devi herself, he is able to overcome his feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt. Paxton makes an honest effort, but to protect his reputation and keep his comfortable position at the top, he acts as if he doesn't care about grades, but it is subsequently revealed that he does intend to attend college and that he feels his efforts are never recognized by his loved ones.
Darren Barnet is an American actor who became an overnight heartthrob because of his portrayal of charming Paxton Yoshida. He made his acting debut in 2017 when he portrayed the fan-loved character of young Jack Pearson in NBC’s critically acclaimed family drama This Is Us. Some of his other film and TV appearances include S.W.A.T., Criminal Minds, Instakiller, Family Reunion, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In 2021, Barnet starred in the Netflix holiday romantic comedy Love Hard alongside Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang.
Jaren Lewison as Benjamin "Ben" Gross
Jaren Lewison, who made a name for himself as Ben Gross is set to reprise his role as the nemesis turned lover of Devi Vishwakumar. Unlike Paxton, Ben is a perfectionist who is ambitious about school and academics. He tends to be stubborn most of the time, yet he is also kind, courteous, and gentle-hearted. In season 1, we see Ben treating Devi and his other classmates with disdain, but he later becomes friendlier and more considerate of her by welcoming her in after Devi's fight with her mother and urging Devi's friends to fix their relationship with Devi. Because of his absent parents, he appears to have abandonment issues. Throughout Season 2, his abandonment concerns become more prominent, as evidenced by the fact that Devi betrayed him by cheating on him with Paxton and ultimately chose Paxton over him.
Jaren Lewison is an American actor who similar to Ramakrishnan and Barnet, rose to fame for his portrayal of Ben Gross. Lewison started acting at the tender age of 5 when he received his first part as Joshua on Barney & Friends, who he played in numerous episodes and videos from 2008 to 2011. Since then, he has been in numerous films, TV shows, and TV movies including Lone Star, Bad Fairy, Away and Back, Beyond the Farthest Star, A Horse Tale, Men, Women, & Children, and Tag.
Poorna Jagannathan as Dr. Nalini Vishwakumar
Fans will be seeing the gorgeous Poorna Jagannathan reprise her role as Dr. Nalini Vishwakumar, Devi’s mom. Throughout 2 seasons, fans have come to see Nalini as a successful dermatologist who is determined and diligent. When it comes to Devi, she can be an overbearing, stern mother on occasion, but it just reflects her steadfast love for Devi and her traditional family values and beliefs. Devi gets her clever, caustic sense of humor and fiery rebellious energy from Nalini who is an excellent mother and an aunt, learning to open up and be more vulnerable while retaining her quick wit and humor. The friction between the mother-daughter duo has Devi distancing herself from Nalini on the reason of her mother being too strict with her, which has led to a lot of conflict between them which has gradually gotten better throughout the two seasons as the two work out their difference to understand each other better.
Poorna Jagannathan is an American actress, who is best recognized for her role as Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries The Night Of. Jagannathan has appeared in several major television shows such as Gypsy, Defending Jacob, Big Little Lies, Better Call Saul, Ramy, The Blacklist, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Messiah.
Richa Moorjani as Kamala Nandiwadal
The beautiful Richa Moorjani will be resuming her role as Devi’s cousin, Kamala Nandiwadal. Kamala is a warm person, always a supporting pillar for Devi to lean on. She is also equally smart and determined evidently from her excitement at a breakthrough in her research program and her passion for science. Kamala is demonstrated to have certain leanings toward Western ideas, even though she was raised in India and is more "Indian" than Devi. Kamala tries her hardest to balance her relationships and independence with others during the first season. Throughout this season, she gradually realizes that she simply wants to live her life according to her own rules and doesn't want to get married to anyone right now.
Richa Moorjani is an American actress majorly known for her character Kamala Nandiwadal. In her acting career, Moorjani appeared in several films and television programs, including Love Fool, The Mindy Project, NCIS: Los Angeles, 9-1-1, Wolf, Invisible Brown Man, Home Economics, Immoral Compass, and True Story. Next up for Moorjani is Season 5 of the FX anthology series Fargo, where she'll be a part of an ensemble cast that includes Joe Keery, Lamorne Morris, Jon Hamm, Juno Temple, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Ramona Young as Eleanor Wong
Ramona Young will be reprising her role as Eleanor Wong. Eleanor grew up around her mother's love of acting, which makes her one of the most dramatic individuals ever. She is kind and compassionate and truly cares about the people she loves. But just like most people, she has her shortcomings as evidenced by Malcolm's manipulation and gaslighting of her into believing that Fabiola and Devi were poisonous people who wanted them to split up, up until the point at which her stepmother made her aware of his reality. Eleanor also struggles to communicate with her family. Her trauma has led her to make many dubious choices during the series, including loving the wrong guy, detesting her stepmother, and giving up the things she loved most: acting and theatre. Season 3 will likely be a continuation of the journey of the ups and downs of the high school journey and how Eleanor charms her way throughout it, we can’t wait to see it!
Ramona Young is an American Actress and had an appearance in a 2014 episode of the brief ABC sitcom Super Fun Night, which served as one of her first credited appearances. Some of her other film and TV appearances include Z Nation, The Real O'Neals, Man Seeking Woman, Santa Clarita Diet, Blockers, Legends of Tomorrow, and Unpregnant.
Lee Rodriguez as Fabiola Torres
Lee Rodriguez is again set to play the stiff robotic genius and best friend - Fabiola Torres. Although Fabiola is a STEM genius, she is also seen having trouble coming to grips with her queer sexuality and finding the right words and time to disclose it to her controlling mother, but we see this reach a happy conclusion when her mother accepts her and assures her daughter that she loves her and that nothing she could say would alter this. With Fabiola and her girlfriend winning Cricket Queen and Queen in the last episode of season 2, season 3 may further delve deeper into the story of this wholesome unproblematic couple and how they together pull through the ever-altering world of high school.
Lee Rodriguez is an American actress who rose to popularity for her role as Fabiola. She is just starting and made her first acting appearance in the 2018 television series Class of Lies in which she played the part of Bea. Rodriguez also played Naomi on Grown-ish in the same year.